Missouri Cooperative Program receipts forwarded to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee through the first six months of the SBC's fiscal year are down $198,016 — or 6.19 percent — from the previous year.

The Missouri Baptist Convention forwarded $2,999,539 to SBC causes through CP between Oct. 1, 2005, and March 31, 2006. Last year, the MBC forwarded $3,197,555 during the same period.

By contrast, the national total is running 1.86 percent above the pace for 2005 with total CP receipts of $100,444,191 to date in 2006 compared to $98,606,116 the previous year.

During March 2006, the SBC share of CP gifts from Missouri stood at $525,165, up $8,597 — or 1.66 percent — over $516,568 forwarded in 2005. National Cooperative Program receipts were up 17.5 percent for the month.

Designated giving to the SBC continued to lag in March for Missouri Baptists, with a March 2006 total of $582,512 total, more than $40,000 less than the $622,831 in March 2005.

Lottie, Annie lagging in Mo.

Six-month figures from the Executive Committee show Lottie Moon gifts for international missions from Missouri totaling $3,001,546 in 2006, more than $81,000 less than the same period a year ago. The percentage decline is more than 2.6 percent.

Missouri's Annie Armstrong gifts for North American missions stood at $234,060 through the six-month period in 2006, more than $70,000 off the 2005 pace. The percentage decline is more than 23 percent.

Other designated gifts from Missouri for the current six-month period are $291,065, well behind the $357,313 pace of the previous year. (04-20-06)